Sword Art Online - Hollow Reminiscence
by Kisetsuno ANI
Summary: A memory is a Precious Thing. It make a person who he is. But when someone is dumped into a Death Game without either memories of knowledge of the world, how will they survive? A Sword Art Online Side story that takes place alongside the original storyline.
1. Chapter 1

This is my First ever Fanfic. I do no own this Sword Art online and other formal stuff. Just enjoy the story!

Sword Art Online – Hollow Reminiscence

Part 1

A memory is a precious thing. Even without a soul, a one can know what kind of a person they used to be. Living without memories alone can be difficult, difficult to find an objective, a motivation, and most importantly the will to keep living. The other thing that bothers him is his identity. The doubt crosses his mind: Do I _actually_ exist? Not knowing the answers to these questions can mislead a person, and can drive him crazy, especially if that person is living in a world ridden with monsters and swords.

The first thing I saw when I came into this world was the sky. The beautiful night sky filled to the brim with glimmering stars. Almost made me think that this place was harmless. Until an inhuman roar rang through my head like a bell. I instinctively bolted up from my previous laid back position and quickly glanced around. Once again, the roar echoed, clearly coming from the nearby forest. Maybe I was a curious person, because the next thing I know, I was headed for the forest, while a normal person would hightail it out of here. As I approached the source of the roar, something leapt through the trees, too fast for my eyes to apprehend. Following it was a clawed hand, which suddenly popped out from the bush in front of me, nearly taking my arm of if I hadn't dodged. As all humans did when they sense fear, I ran as fast and far as I could from the hand and its owner, until I reached a wide open clearing that almost seemed to be conveniently placed for a fight. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood, warning me of the impending threat.

"Get out of the way!" a voice cried out from somewhere in the trees. I didn't have enough time to look for it since a pillar of fire erupted from between the trees in front of me. Once again, I narrowly dodged it, only having the tip of my sleeve singed. But the extreme level of heat was obvious. It felt as if it could easily melt through three 10-foot thick steel plates. Just as I was thinking nothing else could surprise me anymore, a lumbering four-legged serpent-like creature stomped out of the dark forest, ground trembling with each step. From between its closed jaw, flames seeped out. And adding to its intimidation were rows of razor sharp teeth that shone as the creature roared at the sky, letting loose another pillar of flame and torching the unlucky trees. Finally, it looked down at me, eyes white as milk. As for me, I could barely move. My heart however, could right now easily beat a drummer at his own game. The creature inhaled, building up its flames, ready to cook me medium rare. But just as the pillar of flame was about to hit me, I felt something grab my collar and pull me away from fiery doom.

"Did I make it in time?" the same voice that I heard just now said again "You didn't get roasted, right?"

"I-I'm fine….I think…." I replied, checking if all of my parts were still there. They were. I turned around to look at my savior, but the creature's roar forcefully grabbed my attention once again.

"We'll talk later, this Drake is a threat right now." The person who saved me stood up and produced a dagger from the back of his waist. Then he looked at me. "Come on, put that sword on your back to good use, I can't do this alone."

Sword? I reached for my back and wrapped my fingers around a thin cylindrical object. I pulled it out, finding a long glimmering silver blade attached to it. It really _was_ a sword.

"Good. Now do your best to distract the Drake." the person said, twirling his dagger in his hand. "I'll hit it from the side, and oh yeah, don't die."

"Wha-Wai-!" but before I could say anything he was already halfway to the Drake. If my job was to distract it, I should do it, even if I had no idea what was going on. So I just bolted straight towards the Drake, sword in hand. Once I was in front of it, it roared at me again. But this time, it received a nice slash from me. The impact left a bright red scratch on its skin, making it bellow in pain. The Drake then hefted its foot and brought it down on the spot I was standing a second ago. I again swung my sword in a horizontal arc across the Drake's leg, forcing another roar of pain. It was then I spotted a green bar above the Drake's head, which was down to half. Something then told me that the fight was just beginning. I heard the other person shout out something, but I only heard some inaudible speech. Instead, I found myself staring at the Drake's eyes, which were starting to give of a red glow. Then it threw its head back and roared, but this roar was powerful enough to shake the space around it. Its scales suddenly stood straight, like a porcupine.

"Not good! Hey you, get back! This is not an ordinary Drake!" the other person shouted, panicked. "We have to go back, this wasn't included in the data I got."

It's too late to retreat. The Drake's attacks probably got multiplied in all attributes, so it could do much more damage in addition to further range. The only way to escape this alive was to kill it. I clenched my sword and jumped towards its head, pierced its milk white eye. Then I planted my feet on the top of its skull, and took my sword into both hands. I don't know where I got this knowledge, but I planted my sword into its head, and felt the power of the Drake flow into my veins. Once the absorption process was complete, I leapt of the head and faced the Drake. I clutched my sword in both hands and let the Drake's power merge with my sword.

"Ignis Draco Forum!" I let the stored Drake energy loose into a horizontal swing, which in turn released a flame cloaked shockwave that tore through the Drake, leaving nothing but data shards that shattered and dissipated into the starry night sky. Once the silence enveloped the forest again, I sighed and planted my sword into the ground and slumped down. Glad that's over.

"What was that?"

I looked up, seeing a person approaching. It was the person that saved me from being medium rare cooked. So I guess we're even now.

"Don't worry, the Drake is dead." I said. I looked up at the person, and that's when I noticed that my eyesight was a bit blurry. Probably the ash. I rubbed my eyes and looked back at the person. Standing there was a girl with shoulder length auburn hair, front bangs swept to the left. She was wearing a button-up collared shirt and a brown coat over it, along with brown pants and boots. And she looked as if she had just seen a ghost. "What?"

"I have never seen a Sword Skill like that! Did you use an item?" she asked excitedly. "Or is it your sword? If it is, I have to do a better job at collecting."

"Stop. Wait a second." I rubbed my temple. Her onslaught of questions suddenly gave me a headache. "I'll ask the questions first, if you don't mind. Where am I?"

"Hmm? Are you serious?" she said as if I was crazy. "This is the 35th floor, more specifically, the Forest of Wandering."

"35th…..Floor….?" those answers seemed to just brew more questions in my head. But before I could ask any more questions, the girl stopped me.

"Look, it's cold out here, can we talk back in town?" she said, grabbing her arms. Now that she mentions it, snow seems to be covering the ground, and I _do_ feel as if I was going to freeze. "My name is Akari."

She held out her hand. But I just stared at her. A name. What was my name?

Part 1 End

Thats it for the first part. But the Storys far from over...


	2. Chapter 2

Sword Art Online – Hollow Reminiscence

Part 2

"So that's what happened…"

Akari muttered, looking down into her cup of coffee. After taking down the Drake, I was brought to the nearest town, Mishe, which was decorated top to bottom in lights and various assortments of Christmas accessories. Then she had brought me to the inn, bustling with people and their cheery laughs. And after explaining telling her about anything I could remember, she seemed to be thrown into deep thought.

"Alright, I believe you." She concluded, looking up straight into my eyes. "There can be no other explanation for that strange sword skill you used previously."

"You do?" I repeated. I thought she'd put up more of a resistance, but this works even better. I needed someone to explain things to me, since I couldn't even remember my own name.

"So….Your registered name is Asami." She swiped down her finger in the air, spawning floating circles. I had to look quite hard to make sure they were real.

"What the heck are those?" I pointed at the circles in awe and shock while Akari looked back at me as if I was a crazy person….again.

"This is the game menu." She explained, tapping on one of the circles which changed into a window with stuff written on it. I couldn't read since it was inverted. "Used by players to manage their inventories and parties arrangements, along with instant messaging."

It suddenly, a window popped up in front of me, asking me if I wanted to accept the party invite from Akari. I tapped on 'accept' and the window disappeared, replaced by another health bar underneath the larger one at the left corner of my field of vision. I hadn't noticed it, but the larger health bar said 'Asami' on top. I guess that was my name for now.

"Alright, I added you into my party. That way, it's more convenient to keep track of each other." She stood up. "Now, let's go shopping!"

The next thing I know, I was standing in the snow, lightly equipped. While Akari jumped shop from shop, haggling with vendors, I began to inspect the nearby bench. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference between a real bench and this one. The snow and the cold were also fake, as unbelievable as it is. According to Akari, the game stimulates the mind into thinking that it really is cold, along with the other senses. Such is the power of Virtual Reality.

"Hey, Asami!" Akari called from one of the stalls. I walked over and found myself looking over various assortments of weapons and armor. "Take your pick. And since you're currently broke, this is on me."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, facing Akari. "I'm sure this isn't out of charity is it? You want something in return right?"

For a moment, she stood still and silent. "Yep, you got me."

"So, what is it you want?"

"Nothing too unreasonable. Just your help in clearing a dungeon I couldn't." she said. "After that, we can go our separate ways, deal? You can keep the stuff you get."

I thought for a bit. Clearing a dungeon? If she explained correctly just now, a dungeon was an essential part of MMOs where players have a chance to obtain better gear. And usually a strong boss awaited them at the end. If this was your average MMO, I would agree, but this was a death game, where one wrong decision could cost you your life. Just as I was about to refuse, Akari cut in again.

"I've been looking into this dungeon – The Winter Cavern, and it seems to be the first one of its series. Entering activates a quest, called Seasons of Doom, and they say finishing it will grant one wish for each player."

Upon hearing that, I stopped. A wish. If I used that, I could probably regain my memories. Akari seemed to have forced me into a position where I couldn't refuse.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll help you on your quest." I sighed, making her giggle. What a dangerous person. I then turned to the stall and picked out the ones that looked the most appropriate for my style: A standard sword, a steel pauldron, gauntlets and greaves. That way, I can move around without anything holding me back. All that cost 1200 yuld, which Akari hesitantly paid for.

"We set out tomorrow morning." She sniffled, closing her inventory window. "For now, we'll head back to the inn. I need some sleep."

Sounds good to me; was what I was thinking until I found out that Akari had only rented one room.

"Hey, what can I do? I'm close falling into the same financial status as you!" she replied when I asked. "Besides, it's your fault for picking expensive stuff!"

"Didn't you tell me I could choose?" I sighed. But I was too tired to drag this argument longer. "Well whatever, I'm fine with this if you are."

Akari just nodded and pushed open the door, revealing a room not even big enough for one person. I turned to her.

"How much did you pay exactly?" I arched an eyebrow.

"30." She replied abruptly, avoiding eye contact. My jaw almost dropped to the floor. Hard to believe that this girl, the one who graciously spent 1200 yuld for a stranger would only have 30 yuld left for lodging. I don't think we could afford breakfast next morning either. Suddenly, I was overcome with the crushing weight of guilt. "I always spend less than a 50 on rooms. That way, I have more left for shopping."

The guilt quickly vanished into the air as fast as it came. So…..She was this kind of person….

"Feel free to take the bed." I said. "I'm fine with the floor."

"Of course you are. That's how it was going to be anyways." Akari yawned. "Could you go out for a while? I need to take a shower."

"What? Why do I have to…..?" I started, and then decided that it wasn't worth arguing over. "Fine, I'm gonna go for a walk."

With that, I walked out the door and back into the packed streets. Despite being already this late, the whole town was still filled with people. Well, Christmas was right around the corner anyways. Once I stepped out, the cold instantly swept over me, so I stuffed my hands into my pockets and walked down the street. Eventually, I reached a fountain with benches around it. Other than a guy completely dressed in black talking to himself, there was no one who dared to sit in this cold weather. But I walked over to an isolated bench and sat down, looking at the fountain which, surprisingly, wasn't frozen solid. Then as a trial run, I swiped my finger in the air, making the game menu appear. I tapped the inventory icon and shown in the window was the gear Akari bought me just now, a few Drake scales, and an item in the quest item category labeled '?'. I tapped on it, and another window popped up.

"Command Rejected. Requirements not met." It said. What the heck is this thing? And what requirement does it mean? Probably best to ask Akari about it. So I moved on to the skills and status window, where the stats of my avatar were shown. Indeed the registered name was Asami, but I wasn't sure if that was actually my name. My level was set at 28, two levels lower than Akari. As for my stats, everything was set at 20, except strength and defense, which were set at 25. So I guess I should lean towards the tanking role a bit. In the skills section, listed were mostly one handed sword skills and one shield skill. But what caught my eye was a passive skill labeled 'Skill Steal'. I tapped on it to view it in detail.

"Steals a random skill from opponent. The stolen skill can only be used once, and will disappear until stolen from again." It said. Maybe this was how I used Ignis Draco Forum against the Drake. I stole its power and used it for myself. Oh wait, there is another line in the description. "Continuous use depletes the user's life force. If used too much, can lead to death."

What? Is this for real? Well, it _is_ an overpowered skill, but the cost seems a bit too unreasonable. Where did I get this anyways? I shook my head and moved to the social tab icon, which spawned in three more icons: Friends, Party management, and Guild Management. I tapped the friends icon, which was obviously empty. Next I tapped the Party icon. Akari was the only one present, and there was a 'Busy' status beside her nametag. And finally I tapped the Guild icon, which surprisingly revealed another window.

"Guild name – RE;009. Leader – Asami. Members - ?, ?, ?, ?." I was in a Guild? And more yet, I was a Leader? Was this some kind of system error? It should be since the members were all marked '?'. But still, what kind of name was RE;009? I stood up and began walking back to the inn. Forget it, it was probably some kind of bug, maybe the same one that wiped my memories. Best I have some sleep for now. I'm gonna have to help clear a dungeon tomorrow, which I doubt will be anything close to easy.

After another stroll through the snow flooded streets, I reached the inn. I walked upstairs to the tiny room Akari rented and pushed open the door. The first thing I was snow white skin. When I looked at the bigger picture, I noticed that I had intruded upon a changing Akari, whose face suddenly turned tomato red at the sight of me. I cleared my throat.

"Please excuse me." I pinched my nose, preventing it from becoming a blood fountain, and reversed out into the hall closing the door. Followed by a high pitched 'eek' and several sharp objects impaling the poor wooden door. Still, better the door than me. A few minutes later, the door swung open.

"Knock next time, you damn pervert." She grumbled, still staring daggers at me. I could almost feel the prick from them. She had changed into matching light green pajamas. And for some reason, I was slightly disappointed.

"Noted." I simply replied, yawning afterwards. I was so tired I could sleep anywhere and in any weather.

"I'm going to bed first." She said, turning around. "Don't you even _think_ of trying anything while I sleep."

"Don't worry, I'm too tired to even dream about it." I then walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower, because who knows where I had been before waking up near the forest. I stopped in front of the sink, and looked into the mirror. The person staring back at me had long unkempt dark red hair, and a cowlick on top. He also had similar red eyes. So I guess that was me. This was the first time I saw what I looked like. And I really needed a shower, since dirt caked my face and hair. I opened my inventory window and unequipped the gear I was wearing and stepped into the shower. At the turn of a facet, hot water streamed onto my head, reminding me of the Drake's pillar of fire. But this was different. It felt comforting and refreshing, unlike the fire, which only made you want to run as far as possible. Polar opposite from this. After cleaning up, I went back out into the room, where Akari was already fast asleep. On the floor in front of the bed was a spread out sheet, blanket and a pillow. How thoughtful of her. I sighed laid down on the sheet. Just as I was wondering how she could fall asleep so fast, I myself dozed off.

That night, I had no dreams, only a blank dark scene. But it felt unnatural. As if it was a black screen preventing me from seeing the other side, as if someone put it there on purpose.

"Okay, wake up!" a voice pulled me away from the black screen and back into the current world. "Come on, we're going to be late, wake up sleepyhead."

My vision adjusted to my surroundings, and Akari first came into view, standing over me arms crossed and fully dressed. The clock on the right corner of my field of vision indicated that it was already 9:30.

"Why? It's still so early, give me 10 more minutes….." I mumbled, slowly falling back to sleep. But like an alarm clock, Akari prevented that.

"Early? No, it's not! Any later than this and other players will already be raiding the dungeon dry. Jeez!" she cried in frustration. "You're just like him….."

The last part was in a lower and sadder tone than the rest, making me feel as if I shouldn't have heard it. I sighed and stood up.

"Give me a minute to prepare." I said and quickly did the standard morning preparations. Once that was done, I opened my inventory window and equipped the gear Akari bought me yesterday. A simple red shirt with a steel pauldron over the left shoulder, along with the gauntlets. And my greaves over a pair of black pants. Finally, I strapped the new sword onto my back. Done.

"Hmm….." Akari looked me head to toe, like a judge observing an ice sculpture. "Good, you're finally out of the starter gear and look like a fully fledged adventurer."

I didn't know how I looked, but the armor allowed enough space for movement. This would do.

"Ah, wait!" she cried, opening her inventory. "Here, I got this from a previous raid but it doesn't fit my style. Maybe you can use it."

A window appeared in front of me, saying "Received item: Obsidian Armguard"

I opened my inventory and equipped the item, a shield that fit over my left arm. What was surprising was that this shield was worth over 5000 yuld.

"Don't worry." She said before I could retort. "There's no harm in using a valuable item to get even _more_ valuable loot."

"Point taken." I agreed hesitantly and adjusted the armguard. "So, where is this dungeon of yours?"

"South of Mishe." She said, walking out the door. "It's gonna be a long walk so you better be prepared."

"Ha, I can handle it!" I replied, following her out the door.

Part 2 End


	3. Chapter 3

Sword Art Online – Hollow Reminiscence

Part 3

When she said it was a long way, she wasn't kidding. From Mishe, it was more than a three hours walk. Not to mention the path that had to be taken, you'd think it was some fitness trial of life and death. But nonetheless, we made it to the dungeon Akari was so obsessed with – The Winter Cavern. When I first heard the name, I thought it would be a castle or fort or something, but turns out the game makers took the name and literally made the entrance a cave. Why was I expecting something manmade?

"Well, we're finally here!" Akari exhaled, a mischievous grin spreading on her face. Even after climbing a 50 foot rock wall, she still had this much energy left. I, on the other hand, was about to collapse from exhaustion. "Come on! Unknown treasure and riches await us!"

And with that, she excitedly hopped on into the cave. I was still too busy catching my breath to call after her, unfortunately. Once I regained enough energy to walk, I followed her into the cave, where she stood in front of a stone wall. On it were inscriptions of strange runes, which almost magically transformed into decipherable sentences.

"Only those who prove themselves may have the right to enter the Winter Cavern." Said the first sentence. Great, here come the riddles. Why couldn't games just have simple Q&A sessions instead of these? If so, it wouldn't be as interesting to some people, of course.

"This is the first riddle." Akari giggled. Why, I don't know. "The Seasons of Doom questline was made infamous because of the incredibly difficult riddles. And the number of monsters inside."

"You know the answer?" I asked. I was not in the mood to solve riddles. Not now, nor ever. She paused for a bit and turned back to me.

"Of course not. I'm a treasure hunter, but that doesn't mean I'm a genius who can solve a riddle at first glance." She sighed. "Give me some time. For the meantime, why don't you look around? Maybe you'll find a clue somewhere."

"Let me see the riddle." I went in for a closer look at the inscription, which said: "The key that opens this door lies underneath an old withered skeleton, caked in white powder, and shall only show itself to the ones present during the season of Death."

Then I stepped back, leaving Akari to her business. For now, I should look around the place. I scanned the cavern walls and ceiling for anything out of the ordinary, but all I saw were rocks, rocks, and more rocks. No sign of a skeleton or like. Maybe there was something outside the cavern. I walked out into the snow, and was almost blinded by the amount of white present. Wait, white? The snow crunched under my boot as I stepped on the ground. White powder: Snow. I glanced around, but there was nothing except more white and a dead tree. Withered skeleton: Dead tree. I pulled out my sword and plunged it between the ground and the bottom of the roots, and pried the tree loose from the ground. Sitting in its place was a glowing white stone, roughly the size of my palm. This should be the key, although I don't understand how it could be used to open a door. Well, this was a fantasy world anyways. Clutching the stone in hand, I hurried over to Akari, who was still busy staring at the inscription on the wall.

"Asami, did you find anything?" she asked when I approached. "I've can half see through this riddle, but…."

"No need to dwell on it any longer." I handed her the white stone. "I got the key. I think."

She held the stone towards the door, and it began radiating the same white glow as the stone before shattering into tiny million pieces. So did the stone.

"Not bad…" she said, turning to me."You might make a fine treasure hunter."

"I aim to please." I replied and began walking forward, through the door, Akari close on my heels. The inside of the cavern was similar to the entrance, except it stretched on for as far as the eye could see. "Alright then, here we go-"

Just as I put my foot forward, I felt the floor sink slightly. Even before Akari called out, I already knew what I stepped on; Pressure Plates, classic dungeon trickery. Followed by a click, the ceiling opened up, dropping blue scaled two-legged lizard-like creatures in front of us. I wasn't sure what they were called, but if I had to take a guess, it would be Lizardmen.

"Watch out, Lizardmen!" Akari cried, unsheathing her blade. Nailed it. I grinned and unsheathed my own sword, twirling it.

"I guess there's no way to avoid it now, right?" I said before charging. But when I stepped forward, I felt the floor sink again. Great. On cue, more Lizardmen dropped out of the ceiling, not stopping until the path was flooded.

"H-Hey, Asami, I think now's a good time to use your Ignis thing…." Akari suggested, but I sheathed my sword and turned to her.

Without hesitation, I grabbed her wrist and bolted back out through the entrance, until we hit the snow once more. Behind us the entrance remained open, but none of the Lizardmen chased us.

"What was that for? You could've blown them all away in one fell swoop!" Akari exclaimed, sitting in the snow.

"Yeah, about that…..That was a one-use skill. It's gone now, unless I can find another Drake." I replied. My skill could temporarily steal an opponent's skill, allowing me to use it. However, the stolen skill could only be used once before disappearing until stolen again. Not to mention that it drains the user's life force.

"What do you mean? That wasn't a permanent skill you used last night?" She stood up, confusion obvious on her face. I opened my skills window to show her the skill, but I accidentally tapped on the Guild management tab.

"Huh?" I uttered, laying eyes on the window. How is this possible? Did the bug strike again?

"What is it?" Akari asked, leaning in."You're a leader of a Guild? Why didn't you tell me?"

"No. That's not it." I pointed to the members list, where there were supposed to be four '?', but instead, the first one was replaced by a name: Vladimir, level 38, Status – Online.

"Vladimir…? He's level 38, maybe he can help us with this!" she suggested excitedly. "And since he's a member of your Guild, maybe he knows about you before you lost your memories."

Why didn't I think of that? This may be a chance to regain my memories, or at least get a hint on who I was. I tapped on his name, spawning a list of commands. I selected 'track', which made an arrow appear on my field of vision. It was pointing straight through me, towards the Winter Cavern. Since the arrow was three dimensional, it would be pointing downwards if he was below, but right now it was pointing directly at the entrance of the Cavern. So he could only be inside somewhere.

"Akari." I said, clutching my sword. "We're fighting through. Prepare yourself."

"Huh? W-We are? But-!"

"You can come along or stay here; it's your choice in the end. But I have to do this." I stared at the sea of blue skinned Lizardmen. This was the only chance for me to uncover the truth, and I will do it, even if it means swimming through that.

"Are you kidding me?" Akari scoffed, stepping up beside me. "Of course I'm coming. I won't let you hog the loot all to yourself. Besides, this amount of Lizardmen isn't enough to stop _me_!"

I grinned again and charged in full speed, ignoring the pressure plates. If it sends down more Lizardmen, bring it on, I'll slay them all. Nothing will stand between me and my memories. When I reached the first Lizardmen, I swung my sword in a complete horizontal arc, killing three or four at once. Once the four shattered into shards, I drove my sword into the unlucky one standing in front of me. I then pulled it out and spun in a circle, slashing at the ones attempting to surround me. I have no memories, but right now, I was fighting like I had been training all my life. Was my old self _that_ strong to have swordplay embedded into the brain, like speech and movement had, because the Lizardmen didn't stand a chance, despite their sheer advantage in numbers? I was hacking through these monsters like grass, and it couldn't help but made me think: Who was the real monster here? They could barely raise their arms against me, so this could be considered slaughter. No, I shouldn't think like that. These creatures are in my way, so they should be killed like the monsters they are. Besides, they could respawn when we players couldn't. Then again, how do I know I am a player and not a monster? Just as the last Lizardmen shattered, I dropped my sword.

That's right, I didn't even know for sure if I really was a player. Maybe I was just another soulless clump of data made by this world. I have no reason to be slaughtering other clumps of data like this. I clutched my head with both my hands, nails digging into my skin but I couldn't feel any pain. Thinking about this really can drive a person insane. I don't know how long before I begin continuously smashing my head against the wall.

"Asami! What's wrong?" I turned my head and saw Akari approaching, worry written all over her face. "Are you alright? Why are you crying?"

Crying? I touched my face, and was taken aback by the stream of tears spilling from my eyes. Exactly why was I crying? "I don't know anymore….."

I crumpled to the ground, clutching my head harder and sobbing uncontrollably. Why the hell was I crying!? For what reason are these tears falling?

"Hey! Get a grip, Asami!" Akari cried, grabbing my shoulders and shaking them. "Come on, talk to me! What happened?"

"Akari…" I mumbled, loud enough for her to hear, and looked straight into her eyes. "What am I? Tell me, what am I? Am I a monster or human? Please…I don't know myself anymore…."

The question probably took her by surprise, because she didn't answer and had a shocked look on her face. But after a while, she clenched her teeth.

"How the heck am I supposed to know!?" she growled angrily, and looked back into my eyes. "I don't know if you are a real player or a damn system anomaly! I just met you recently, but I feel like I had known you all my life!"

"So as far as I know, you are human to me!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face now. I didn't know why she was crying, but I could clearly feel the strong feelings behind her words; Strong enough to stop the flow of tears and make me look at her in awe. "If you don't think my words are enough, you can get up and look for answers! Instead of cowering here and crying yourself to death! You're a man aren't you? So start acting like one! You won't find anything if you're just all talk and no action. Save your tears for when you find your answers, be it tears of happiness or sadness."

Following Akari's emotional speech was a minute of silence. Finally, she exhaled and slumped down onto the floor, clearly exhausted. As for me, I was going through a huge stage of realization. She was right, I won't find my answers if I don't push myself, and should stop thinking so hard. Once I find my memories, all will be revealed, and that was the time where I decide to be happy or sad, just like she said.

I sighed and punched the ground as hard as I could. Alright, now get up and move forward without hesitation. Glancing back will make me drop into the sorry state I was in two minutes ago. I stood up and held out my hand to Akari, who looked at me with the worry and tears still present.

"Thanks for the speech" I said, doing my best to smile convincingly. "I owe you one, Akari. Now, let's go, the dungeon isn't gonna clear itself you know."

That said, Akari smiled back at me and took my hand. Good, I managed to smile correctly. Once she was back on her feet, she patted the dust on her pants off and cleared her throat.

"Yeah, let's go." She nodded, back in her usual state. That was quick. And so together, we proceeded forward, into the long dark rocky hallway that awaited us.

Part 3 End


	4. Chapter 4

Sword Art Online – Hollow Reminiscence

Part 4

The rest of the dungeon was strangely quiet. Maybe because we had already defeated more than a 100 of those Lizardmen back near the entrance. If that was the case, only the boss was left. But the cavern showed no signs of change, just the same endless rock hallway. I looked at Akari, who was silently walking beside me. Thanks to her, I could move on without doubt. Ignorance was sometimes bliss.

"Oh yeah, that speech." I said, breaking the dreadful silence. "Was that something you made up, or from somewhere else?"

"It was my….Brother's. He used to always say it whenever he had the chance, changing the subject only." She replied hesitantly, a sad smile on her face. "I heard it so many times it got seared into my brain."

Was? Did her brother pass on the ownership of the speech to her or something? No matter, it seemed like a sensitive topic, so I should avoid it for the time being. Suddenly, the arrow guiding us to Vlad began blinking, a sign that the objective was close by. And it was pointing to an unnaturally large double door with fancy designs all over it.

"This must be the boss room." Akari said in awe, observing the door head to toe. "Because nothing screams 'Boss ahead' louder than this thing."

"I know, right?" I replied, also looking up at the top of the door, which was at least five times our height. "Open it?"

Akari nodded, and we pushed the huge but surprisingly light door open. Once it was completely out of the way, a 'Congratulations!' window popped out, nearly making me jump through the ceiling. What, did we get congratulations on opening the door?

"Look, over there." Akari pointed to the center of the room, where a single figure stood still as blue shards floated into the sky. "He managed to defeat the boss on his own?"

The person who beat us to the boss was most likely a man, judging from his appearance. I took a step forward, and something came flying towards me at near light speed. If it wasn't for my hypersensitive reflexes, the object would've already gone straight through my skull. Instead, I pulled out my sword quick enough to change its course.

"Excellent." The man ahead said, his mischievous voice echoing through the circular room we were in. "Players really _are_ stronger than these monsters, but you'll make a fine prey."

Without any warning, he charged towards me, empty-handed. Before I could say anything, he leapt over me and onto the spot where the flying object had landed. I quickly turned towards it, and finally got a good look at him. The man was clad head to toe, minus the helmet, in crimson red armor, neither light nor heavy, but somewhere in between. He had long white hair, stretching halfway over his back, and front bangs almost obstructing his eyes completely. But since it wasn't completely covered, his eyes were visible, glowing like a pair of piercing green jewels. He could easily scare a lion away with a glance. As he glared at me, he had a mischievous grin on his face and a spear nearly twice my height.

"So, Guild Leader, nice to finally meet you!" he grinned, bringing two fingers to his forehead and moving it forward. "I have several thousand questions for you."

"Yeah, me too." I said. "So why don't we just have a cha-"

"But first, I have to do this, as per instructions." He twirled his spear until it was pointed directly at me and charged. Just in the nick of time, I leapt out of its path, avoiding being impaled again. What the heck was this guy doing? Weren't we supposed to be Guild Mates? And what did he mean by instructions? Anyways, judging from his behavior, it seemed that he wasn't willing to talk until I defeat him. So be it.

I drew my sword and pointed it at him. If it was a duel he wanted, it's a duel he'll get. He grinned and charged again, spear pointed straight again. Once he was close enough, I batted the spear away and made ready to strike him. But then I remembered one of Akari's tips for beginners. Hitting another player will label you an 'Orange Player', and killing another will make you a 'Red Player' or simply Player Killer. Changing my mind at the last minute, I spun out of his vicinity before my sword made contact. Then I leapt away to a safe distance to think for a bit. For now, it's safe to assume that he's not here to kill me, since his movements are slow enough to dodge three minutes before he reached me. And he seemed to be using the exact same attack.

As expected, Vlad charged towards me again exactly like the last two times. But instead of countering, I leapt further away. Was he testing me or something? Now that I think about it, I heard about it from somewhere I can't exactly remember, that a method of building trust was a test of strength. It wasn't a solid lead, but no harm in trying it. Wait, there is; if I can't match his strength, there's a chance that I'll get skewered. In which case, makes this plan the last chance.

When Vlad began assuming his pre-charge position, I took in a deep breath and let it out. This was a huge risk, but I'll take it. I flexed my sword arm and planted my feet in a firm position as Vlad kicked off of the ground. Once at a specific speed, I thrust my sword forward, the tip meeting the tip of his spear. On contact, sparks flew into the air, and didn't stop. He was strong, since it was taking more than my usual strength to keep his spear at bay. Nevertheless, we remained locked in the same position for around two minutes until my arm began to falter, and I slowly receded. My strength was evaporating over the second, but Vlad on the other hand seemed just fine, with a smirk still on his face. At this rate, I'm really going to get skewered. Adjusting my position could be fatal, when he was still at full strength. In that case, I'll have to aim to wear down the weapon instead of the user. Yes, if the spear's durability gets reduced to zero, it would be considered my victory.

"Constant Pierce!" My sword began glowing blue and the disrupted air around it could be seen. With that, I felt Vlad being pushed back slowly. Alright, the tables have turned.

"Not yet, Forward Impale!" He smirked, and his spear began glowing red and doing the same thing my sword was doing. Once again, I felt his inhuman strength pushing me back. As I thought, beating him with strength alone was impossible. The only thing I could do was wait until his spear runs out of durability.

"If you're trying to wear down my spear, it's impossible." Vlad chuckled, glaring at me. "It's a rare-class weapon known for its near infinite durability, behold, the power of Grungnir!"

Crap. Why didn't he mention it sooner? Now that the Plan B went straight down the chute, I can see no potential way to escape this corner. If I tried to dodge, the spear would instantly skewer me, with the strength behind it. Begging for forgiveness was out of the question. Was I going to die here, without ever finding out the truth behind my existence? I looked over to where Akari was standing. She was watching with a stern look on her face, straight at me, as if telling me that I wouldn't get my share of the loot if I didn't defeat the guy. That's right; I had to show her that I was worth helping. If it wasn't for her, I would be wandering the world, with as much knowledge as a new-born. I turned back to Vlad, who still had a smirk on his face. Well, don't worry; I'll make sure to thoroughly wipe that off your face.

"Shattering Pierce!" With a cry, I pushed forward using my newfound strength, pushing Vlad's spear back. My sword began to light up brighter, and eventually shattering the spear, my sword along with it. With nothing in my hands now, I stumbled forward, bumping foreheads with Vlad, which felt like smashing my head against a steel plate. I then fell back onto my rear, rubbing my bruised forehead. What was he made of? As I sat pondering that question, Akari ran over to my side.

"Asami, are you okay?" She said, kneeling down beside me. "Sorry I didn't help; I just….something was telling me to leave it to you."

"You made the right choice, young lady." Vlad replied before I could. He was chilling on the floor, apparently unhurt from our previous contact. On his face was his trademark smirk. "Because I didn't want to deal with more prey yet. One was enough."

"And you! Aren't you supposed to be Asami's Guild Member? Why'd you attack him out of the blue?" she frowned, eyes glinting with ferocity.

"Whoa, slow down there, lemme explain, ok?" he chuckled, raising his hands in defeat and reassumed his previous position a second later. "Well, you see, I know you're confused, but trust me, I'm as confused as you are."

"What do you mean?" I said, the pain in my forehead disappearing, since I remembered that the game makers were at least kind enough to lower the pain simulators.

"Hey, how can one not be confused when they're dropped into a 'Game' without their memories?" Vlad shrugged. "Except a line of totally useless information and the spear you broke just now, I had nothing. And could remember nothing!"

He was also dumped in without memories? Damn it, I was hoping he would know why I was here. But turns out, he was in the same boat that I was in.

"Wait, what was that about the instruction thing?" I quickly said, hope once again rising. "I didn't hear anything like that when I got dropped."

"Heh, as I said; useless instructions." Vlad scoffed, dismissing it with a wave of the hand. "It told me to come here and kill something called the boss. I figured it was the big fat guy waiting in this room, so I killed it. Then you showed up."

"You defeated the Titan of the Water by yourself!?" Akari exclaimed, jaw dropping onto the floor.

"If you meant the dude with the whip, then yeah, I did." He shrugged. "And as I as saying, the instructions included a part where you would show up and that I had to test you if you were worthy of leadership."

"Leadership?" I guessed that meant the Guild. "So that's why you attacked me, right?"

"Although I lost my memories, I remember that I only follow people stronger than me. Not only physical strength but mental as well." He nodded. "And you proved that when you broke through my charge, _and_ my spear."

"Sorry about that."

"Eh, no biggie. I just got another one from the fat man just now. The problem is that yours broke as well."

Come to think of it, when I won, both our weapons broke simultaneously. So right now, I only have the sword I was found with left.

"Anyways," Vlad stood up and stretched a bit. "Mind if I tagged along with you for now? I'm sick of wandering this place alone. Gonna drive me crazy without anyone to talk to."

I looked at Akari, who shrugged back. Wait, weren't we going to go our separate ways? I guess that would be best, since I didn't want to drag her into our quest for our memories. Just as I was about to mention it, she spoke up suddenly, as if figuring something out.

"Wait a minute. You were instructed to come kill the Titan of Water specifically, right?" she asked Vlad, a little too excitedly.

"Well, I was told to come to the Winter Cavern and kill the boss, but…." He replied, his guard slowly rising.

"There were four members in your Guild, including Vlad, and he was told to come to the Winter Cavern _specifically._ Now that we cleared it, there are three more dungeons left. Same as the number of members left. They may be at the other dungeons, just a guess."

Silence followed for the next three seconds, until Vlad spoke up.

"In that case, we should move on to the next dungeon." He said and looked to me. "So, leader?"

Although it sounds too biased, it was better than looking for someone without any lead. I turned to Akari, who looked at me expectantly. I sighed. Might as well ask for her help.

"Akari, since your goal and ours are similar, mind if you stick around?" I said. She grinned for a second, then shook her head and cleared her throat.

"If you insist." She replied. For some reason, it feels as if she wanted to come along. I stood up and glanced at Vlad. Now, I have taken the first of many steps to regaining my memories, which really skyrocketed my motivation level. Who knows what we will find next, since the world, game or reality, can be unpredictable.

Part 4 End


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